Slipping
by Talye Kendrin
Summary: Starts in S2E02. When Dr Saunders leaves, Adelle hires a new doctor to fill in for her. The only thing is, the new doctor has been at the Dollhouse before...as an Active. (Pairings Undecided) Rating may go up. ON HOLD
1. Ainsley

**chapter one**

_Ainsley._

* * *

Paul Ballard huffed impatiently, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he leaned back against the wall, an irritated scowl on his face.

"Tell me again why we're having an impromptu staff meeting rather than eating lunch?" he griped. Usually he would eat in the little staff nook that overlooked the Actives' dining area so that he could watch Echo have lunch. He liked having her in his line of sight. It made him feel less anxious. He kept having this nagging feeling these days that something bad was going to happen soon, what with how Echo was maintaining all her former programming.

Adelle rolled her eyes and poured herself a fifth of scotch. The man got on her nerves on the best of days, but she couldn't deny it was an asset to have him on board, especially with how devoted he was to Echo's safety.

"Seeing as we've suddenly found ourselves rather short-staffed in our medical department, I've hired someone to fill Dr. Saunders' shoes in case she does not in fact return to us," Adelle stated succinctly, pursing her lips in distaste at the sore subject of their renegade physician. "I believe everyone but you is already acquainted with our new hire, Mr. Ballard."

Paul raised an eyebrow at that.

"Do tell," he said, straightening up and crossing his arms over his chest. He didn't like the idea of being the only person who didn't know something, even if it was only because everyone else had worked at the Dollhouse longer than he had.

Adelle took a healthy swig of her scotch and gave the former FBI agent a knowing smirk. She knew his issues with not knowing everything.

"Our new physician's parents are loyal patrons of the Dollhouse, but she herself was actually an Active here up until a couple years ago, believe it or not."

Paul's eyebrows shot up at that information.

"Seriously?" He gave a bark of laughter at the irony. "So our last physician was formerly a Doll, and now that she's gone we're getting a new physician who also used to be a Doll. Maybe it's just me, but I'm starting to sense a pattern here."

Adele snorted into her glass.

"Actually, not only was she a former Active, but the only reason she's a physician now is because we imprinted her with that knowledge when her contract was up." At Paul's incredulous look, she frowned, feeling the need to explain further. "Her parents drove a bit of a hard bargain when it came to her contract—they arranged for her to stay the standard five years, like any other Active, but they insisted we imprint her with knowledge of a respectable profession when her time was up. She used to have mental health issues before she came to us, you see, and it was bad enough that she nearly didn't get her high school diploma, so it was doubtful any university would let her into any of the high-demand courses. She came to us straight after graduation. When we got her, Topher fixed her up good as new." Adelle gave a small smile at the thought of one of her success stories. It was nice when she could think of one of her former Actives and honestly think to herself, I helped that person.

Topher, who was lounging on one of Adelle's couches leafing through an electronics magazine, perked up at that.

"Are you talking about Heaven?" he said, seeming excited. He almost looked like he might start bouncing up and down on the couch at any moment. "Are we getting Heaven back?"

Adelle finished off her scotch and placed the glass down on her desk.

"Well, she won't be Heaven now, she'll be going by her actual name; Ainsley Ludovico."

Topher shrugged. "Eh...potato, potahto."

Paul raised an eyebrow at Topher's excitement.

"Why so eager to have her back? Dolls aren't exactly the liveliest people, and you clearly didn't get to know her after her contract finished if you're still calling her Heaven," he pointed out.

Topher shrugged, lying back on the couch with his hands folded behind his head.

"Heaven was a big ol' sweetheart. She used to give her paintings to staff members as gifts. Plus she laughed at my jokes, even though she didn't usually get them," he said, muttering the last part under his breath.

Adelle straightened, noticing the elevator changing numbers to indicate that someone was on their way up.

"Ah. That would be Mr. Langton with Ainsley now," she said, smoothing the nonexistent creases out of her navy pencil skirt. "Look lively, Topher. Don't be rude."

Topher sighed, grumbling under his breath about how he had just gotten comfortable, but he stood up anyways, shoving his hands in his pockets and hoping he didn't look too eager to meet their new doctor. If one thing was for sure, there would definitely be a lot less tension between him and her than there had been between him and Dr. Saunders before she'd left. Maybe he might even finally make a friend, he thought hopefully, though he wouldn't hold his breath. There was no guarantee that Ainsley would be anything like Heaven had been, and he hadn't talked with her enough during her first few post-contract diagnostics tests to really gauge her personality. She seemed nice enough, but then most people did if they didn't get any more personal than making small talk with you.

There was a quiet 'ding' before the elevators opened to reveal Boyd talking to a girl in her mid-twenties, her chin-length dark brown hair parted deeply to the side, her lightly tanned olive complexion speaking of a fair amount of time spent outdoors. The girl turned her head when she realized the elevator doors had opened, and her eyes lit up when she saw Adelle.

"Addie!" she squealed, running over to hug said woman tightly. "It's been far too long, you damn workaholic."

Adelle rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. She patted the younger woman's back before holding her at arm's length.

"Thank you for agreeing to my proposal, Ainsley. There aren't many that I would trust with this position," she said, giving Ainsley's arms an affectionate squeeze.

Ainsley grinned. "That's just because you have trust issues, Addie," she said teasingly.

Topher snorted at that one. _Now that's an understatement, _he thought.

Ainsley heard the snort and turned to see who else was in the room, noticing a tall, muscled stranger who wasn't bad on the eyes but appeared to be quite moody, if the scowl on his face and his defensive posture was anything to judge by. Then her eyes landed on Topher, and she lit up.

"Topher! Nice to see you again," she said, surprising everyone (Topher included) by walking over to him and giving him a hug.

Topher froze at the human contact. He didn't have friends. He didn't get hugs. It was like some sort of foreign idea to him that someone might actually willingly come into physical contact with him. The hug didn't last very long, and by the time he finally managed to get his limbs to react, thinking to perhaps return the hug, Ainsley had already stepped back. She took one look at his face and laughed so hard she ended up clutching her side.

"Ahahaha! You sh-you should see your-your face right now," she said. "You'd think someone tasered you or something. You look like a deer in the headlights right now." She wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. "Ahhh, that was good. I needed that."

Topher scowled at her, but there was no anger behind it.

"What? You can't blame me for being surprised," he said defensively. "We haven't really talked since you were here for your contract, and like I say...you were in your contract then."

Ainsley rolled her eyes, giving a noncommittal shrug.

"What can I say? I'm sentimental. I don't see somebody for a long time, I get all teary-eyed," she joked with a wink.

Adelle smiled at the two of them.

"Well, seeing as you two seem to be getting along famously, Topher, why don't you show our new doctor to her work area?"

She watched the two closely as they agreed, Topher offering his arm to Ainsley with a goofy grin on his face, which Ainsley dipped into a curtsy before accepting. As they headed towards the elevator, Adelle called after them.

"Oh, and Ainsley, dear..." Ainsley tilted her head to show she was listening. "Do try not to let Topher rub off on you too much."

Ainsley just laughed. They slipped into the elevator, chatting away as the doors closed.

Boyd raised his eyebrows at the display.

"You sure it's a good idea to let those two be together unsupervised? That just seems like a disaster waiting to happen," he said, noting how both of them seemed to have almost an air of immaturity about them.

Adelle sighed, her fingers twitching a bit as she resisted the urge to pour herself another drink.

"Mr. Langton...Mr. Ballard," she said, motioning them both to approach her desk. They both complied. "What I am about to tell you must never leave this office. No one else on the staff is to know. A select handful of them know already because they were part of our staff before the incident, but most of them are unaware of this and I would prefer to keep it that way."

Paul gave her an unimpressed look.

"Why do I feel like you're about to tell me about Alpha all over again?"

Adelle gave him a scathing look to shut him up.

"Because in a way, I am," she said, running a hand through her hair. _This job is way too stressful,_ she thought. "Ainsley was in a contract here at the same time Alpha was. During her last year here, the two of them began grouping. It was...concerning, to say the least. She's a sweet girl, and I didn't want her mixed up with the likes of him. No matter how many times we wiped them, though, they kept grouping. But during her last month here, Echo showed up, and Alpha became fascinated by her. He became distracted from Ainsley most of the time. She seemed...lonely," Adelle said, her eyebrows raising to echo how surprised she had been to notice that. "She began lingering around Topher's lab...and then she started grouping with Topher. It was...odd, to say the least." Adelle leaned back against her desk, arms folded over her chest. "The only reason we could give her behavior was that she's by habit a social creature, and her brain functions in such a way that she gets attached to people quite easily."

Boyd nodded.

"So that's why Topher was so excited that 'Heaven' was coming back," he said. "She's probably the closest thing he's had to a friend since he came here."

"Indeed," Adelle said. "But as I said...she does have a history with Alpha, and even if she no longer remembers it...I highly doubt Alpha has forgotten," she said, giving Boyd and Paul a serious look. "I want both of you to keep an eye on her, look out for any unusual or erratic behavior. I don't want to find out too late if Alpha gets to her." Her eyes went soft at the thought of the girl. "I rather like having her around."

With that, Adelle waved her hand at the two dismissively, going over to the bar.

Screw sobriety. She needed another drink.

* * *

Ainsley pulled into the garage off her small two-bedroom house nearby the Rossum building, feeling entirely ready to just curl up in bed and sleep. It wasn't as if she had done a whole lot at work, all she had done was toured the facility and had coffee with Topher while she observed the Actives, but spending the majority of her time with Topher made her feel drained of all her energy. Goodness gracious, that man could talk her ears off! She hadn't really had a good conversation with him since her contract had been ended, but even after she had been reawoken as herself, she had a deep-seated sense of familiarity with Topher that she just couldn't shake, despite that she remembered nothing of any time she might have spent with him. She had been reluctant to strike up a conversation with him during the different times she had been back at the facility for diagnostic tests because he seemed kind of awkward and stand-offish, always having his back towards her or not making eye contact with her, but she was glad she had thought to talk to him in the office. She could tell from how much attention he gave her—and how little he gave to everyone else—that he had missed her, and that he was a very solitary person.

She sighed in relief as she unlocked the door that joined her garage to her house and stepped inside. The first thing she noticed was that it smelled like there was food cooking...garlic bread? And pizza? She scowled in irritation, tossing her purse on top of the shoe rack before jamming her shoes on the bottom. She peeked around the corner of the kitchen into the living room, spotting a very naked, fit-looking man with his butt cheeks planted on her coffee table as he watched the news on TV.

Ainsley gave an exasperated sigh.

"Just because you put food in the oven for me doesn't mean it's okay for you to leave _ass prints_ all over the glass of my coffee table," she said, throwing the man a disapproving look as he turned his face to her with an innocent look.

"Oh, sorry. I just thought you might want a reminder that my naked behind was here for when I leave. After all, I've caught you staring at it more than once," he said with what anyone else would have thought was a charming smile, but being familiar with him, Ainsley saw the predatory gleam in his eyes. She hated when he got like this, then she had to tiptoe around him, watching what she said very carefully. It didn't take much to set him off. Not that he had ever gotten truly violent with her, but he was scary when he was angry. Plus, she didn't want him taking his anger out on anybody else, even if it was never her. She would've been able to live with it if she was the target of his anger, but she wasn't, and that was what made her so conscious of her words.

Ainsley focused on the tote bag she had taken with her to work, taking all of her notepads and medical paraphernalia out of it, setting it neatly on the end table by the couch as she spoke.

"I won't deny it. You're a fine-looking man," she said, glancing at Alpha and noting he had a proud smirk on his face, the predatory gleam in his eyes replaced by a playful one now. He would appreciate a well-placed barb at this point. "Or should I say, men."

He laughed, standing up in all his nude glory. Ainsley tried to control her blush, looking anywhere but at him as he approached her, wrapping her in a hug.

"Ah! I've missed your humor, Heaven," he said, kissing the top of her head.

Ainsley returned the hug half-heartedly.

"Yeah," she mumbled into his shoulder. "I've missed you, too...Alpha."


	2. Plans

**chapter two  
**

_Plans._

* * *

_"Now, now...that's no way to speak to your captor, is it?" she purred, gripping the chin of her rather plain-looking captive as he sat, tied naked to the chair in front of her. Logically speaking, there was nothing really notable about his appearance; he was average weight, with just the start of a beer gut, and his face wasn't very handsome; his features were too soft to be striking. He smelled clean, but had no distinguishing scent other than soap and deodorant. Yet, for some reason she just could not comprehend, he was worthy of her attentions. She studied his face, narrowing her eyes at what she saw._

_She barked a laugh._

_"You're enjoying this!" she laughed. "You sick freak!"_

_He seemed scared now. She could see the sweat on his brow as his eyes widened. "What-! No! No, that's not true!" His nether regions told an entirely different story, however, as did his dilated pupils. She hadn't even given him the aphrodisiac yet!_

_She grinned wolfishly. "No, no. That's fine," she said, taking one finger and tracing a line from his collarbone down his chest, dragging it lower and lower as he gulped audibly._

_"It'll just make things...so much easier for me."_

* * *

Ainsley jerked awake.

Well, that was...erotic. It was so weird seeing herself do that, though. She would never do something like that, not even with someone she actually found attractive...she was more of a submissive in the bedroom, she mused. Not that it made any difference to what she had seen. She looked over at the other side of the bed, seeing that the other half was neatly made, and realized that Alpha had been here last night. As she thought that, the smell of bacon met her eager nose, and she felt her stomach growl at the promise of food. Grinning, she hopped out of bed, shoving her slippers on and not bothering to make her side of the bed. She never did.

Shuffling up behind Alpha as he stood at the stove, flipping bacon, eggs and pancakes with expert precision, she placed both hands on his shoulder and peered over it at the delicious looking food.

"Good morning, friend," she said cheerily.

Alpha smirked. "You know you only call me 'friend' when I do you a favor," he pointed out.

Ainsley shrugged. "It's just to remind you of the reason why you do me favors," she said innocently.

"Sure, sure," Alpha said, sliding the remainder of what was cooking onto plates and setting them both down on the breakfast bar, where he'd already poured them both orange juice and coffee.

"Oh, sweet coffee, giver of life, bestow upon me your goodness," Ainsley said, plunking herself down on the closest stool and wrapping her hands around her coffee mug, taking a long sip of the caffeinated drink. "Ahhhhh. You sure you don't wanna just set up permanent residence here and I pay you to be my personal barista?"

Alpha snorted. "Nice try, Heaven, but you can't afford me."

Ainsley gave a wistful sigh. "Ah, well...a girl can dream." She stared into the depths of her coffee for a moment, lost in thought. "Speaking of dreams..."

"You had another one?" Alpha said, perching oddly on the stool. She gave him a weird look at his sitting habits. At least he was wearing boxers this morning and not pressing his lily-white ass directly against everything.

Ainsley nodded. "Apparently one of my personalities was really into bondage," she said drily, taking another sip of coffee.

Alpha tilted his head.

"Leah Moran, more than likely," he said, nodding to himself. "They tried to imprint you with very few personalities. Not sure why, likely Adele's or your parents' request, but that one was the one that did most of the kink-work."

At the mention of her parents, Ainsley stiffened, setting her coffee down and vigorously cutting into her food.

"Whoa, slow down there, champ. You're getting almost as violent as I am." She glanced up to see him grinning viciously. No good. One of the sadistic ones was coming to the surface. "I like it."

Ainsley shook her head, popping a piece of egg in her mouth and chewing without really tasting it.

"I just don't get it, you know?" she said, for what seemed the umpteenth time, although now she was saying it to Alpha rather than her now-estranged parents. "I mean, they know Adele, they know the Dollhouse, they know what the Actives _do_ for crying out loud! They basically said 'here, our daughter's crazy, if you fix her we'll let you whore her out for a while'! Who the hell does that to their child?!"

"Uhhh, rich bastards who can't handle a little human imperfection?" Alpha suggested helpfully.

Ainsley growled.

"Rich bastards is right," she growled, stuffing a particularly large piece of pancake slathered in butter and syrup in her mouth to keep herself from saying something she'd regret.

"Oh, by the way, your dearest Addie has people watching you now."

Ainsley just about choked on her food, hastily taking a gulp of orange juice to wash down the half-chewed bite of pancake. She pounded her chest, coughing.

"Uhh, okay," she said, fearing the worst already. "And just how did you discover that?"

Alpha gave her a look that read, 'seriously?'

"Oh come on, Heaven. Do you really think so little of me? Haven't I proven my self-control to you time and time again?"

Somehow thinking of the times his homicidal primary alter-ego had tried to kill her only to be forced into line by his other personas didn't really make her feel better about what might have befallen the people Adele had assigned to guard duty on her. At least with herself, she knew that he had a form of attachment to her from their days as Actives, but in her past experience, he had never been nearly as discerning with other people-especially those who were connected to the Dollhouse that had perverted their lives for so many years. Ainsley kept her expression calm, raising a challenging eyebrow at him.

"To me, yes...to others, not so much," she stated blandly.

Alpha laughed, causing her to relax slightly that he took it as a joke rather than as an accusation. He reached across the table in order to pat her condescendingly on the head, grinning at her dark scowl.

"Aww, don't worry, muffin. I won't kill 'em," he said, turning his focus back to his food. "After all, I've got plans...can't have 'em knowing I'm back before I put them into motion, now, can I?"

Ainsley shook her head, going back to drinking her coffee again.

"Just remember," she said between sips of the scalding hot liquid, "same deal as before. If I don't know anything about what you're doing, I don't have to lie if they ask me."

Alpha looked at her, his eyes softening in a manner that looked odd on the dangerous man.

"You know I wouldn't risk my only friend like that, Heaven," he said quietly.

Ainsley felt a tug on her heart when he said things like that. It took everything in her to remind herself that he was dangerous; he was a murderer. But he had never hurt her. He cared about her. It was moments like this that made it very clear to her that that was true. She allowed herself a small smile to reassure him.

"I know," she said, lying through her teeth as she said, "I trust you."

* * *

Ainsley rubbed her temples in a circular motion, trying to get rid of the growing migraine hovering behind her eyes. She had already taken all of the medication she could safely ingest to try and fend it off, but, as seemed the norm for her some days, it still seemed to be lingering there, waiting for the moment her medication started to wear off so that it could swallow her whole. Her migraines were the worst-they lasted for two or three days at a time, often making her so sick she would be curled around the toilet bowl for hours on end, fighting to drink enough to stay hydrated even though she knew she'd just end up retching it up again in the end.

She muttered a string of curses under her breath before squinting at the computer screen in front of her, resolving to finish charting her findings on the last Active's physical before she shut the damn machine off. Staring at the bright screen certainly wasn't doing anything to ease her migraine, that was for sure. Finishing her typing, she added her electronic signature before saving it to the database and shutting the laptop resolutely, reaching for the remote next to the machine to turn down the soothing rainforest sounds that she played in her office to help keep the Actives calm during the more uncomfortable and invasive parts of their physicals.

"Y'know, I don't know how you can listen to that all day and not have to run to the bathroom every five minutes."

Ainsley just about fell out of her chair when she jumped at the sudden announcement of a visitor. She spun her chair around to glare at Topher, who sat on a stool by the examination table, looking around her office innocently.

"It's a bit sparse in here," he commented at her lack of...any personal touches, really. The only things left were decorations that had been there when Dr. Saunders had run the clinic, and even then, the ones that were too personal had been removed. "You could use a plant, or something...other than cheap knock-off art," he said, gesturing lamely at the watercolor prints on the walls.

Ainsley huffed.

"Gimme a break, Topher," she said, placing the heels of her palms against her eyes in a poor attempt to relieve the pressure building behind them. "I haven't even been here two days yet, I have plenty of time to redecorate."

Topher shrugged, though she couldn't see it.

"Well, whenever you get around to it, might I suggest a different color paint, too? I actually find this one..._really_ tacky."

Ainsley chortled.

"Well, in that case I think I'll keep it. Natural Topher-deterrent."

"Hey, now! I-"

There was the sound of her office door banging open, causing Topher to jump up from his seat and Ainsley to actually take her hands off her eyes, blinking the blurriness out of them to try and focus on the figure entering the room. She wasn't terribly surprised to find Adele there.

"Topher!" the woman barked, arms crossed over her chest as she tapped her foot impatiently.

"Aye-aye, cap'n!" the technician said, snapping a sarcastic salute.

Adele was less than pleased, and it showed as she snarled at the resident genius.

"Get back to work," she all but growled. "And if I have to tell you once more, then you will not be permitted to leave your station at all during work hours!"

Topher's eyes widened and he scampered for the doorway. "Alright, alright, no need to overreact!" he said, scrambling out the doorway, before briefly poking his head back in just long enough to say, "Later, Ains."

"_Now!_"

"I'm gone, I'm gone!"

Adele offered the young woman a somewhat strained smile and wished her a good afternoon before heading back to her own office. Ainsley gave a half-hearted wave as her office door slid shut behind the tall businesswoman, and she was left staring at the frosted glass that separated her from the rest of the building. She had to admit, Topher's frequent little visits helped break the monotony of her day, even when she wasn't really in the mood for visiting, like now. Due to the great amount of time she often had between appointments, and the distinct lack of medical emergencies requiring her attention between those visits, she often ended up doing a great deal of nothing during her day, but had to stay in her office aside from her breaks just in case of emergencies. Topher's visits helped break up the time and made the end of her shift come quite a bit quicker.

With a sigh, she set her head down on the desk, setting an alarm on her phone for a few minutes before her next appointment, just in case she fell asleep.

When her alarm went off an hour later, she blearily lifted her head, stretching out her arms across her desk only to bump her arm against something. Blinking, she saw an old-fashioned walkie-talkie. She laughed, grabbing the folded note taped to it and reading it, not at all surprised to find who had snuck in and left it there while she was asleep.

"Of course you would," she murmured, shaking her head with a smile on her face. Her migraine had receded a bit, and now she had a gift that would help her pass the time. She gazed at the radio with a certain fondness.

"Damn genius," she said, but she couldn't stop the grin that stretched from ear to ear.


	3. Secrets

**A/N:** Welp, sorry it's been so long. This one is a little bit shorter than usual (though not by much), but I'll have chapter 4 up by September 30, so it will be (almost) like a double update.

* * *

**chapter three**

_Secrets._

* * *

Ainsley had been working at the Dollhouse for just shy of three months now. That was three months of stress, going between her job and home, where Alpha had begun visiting her more often than not. The last time that had happened, he ended up having a psychotic break and cramming who-knows-how-many personas into the object of his obsession's head, so she took that as a bad omen, which added to her already high stress levels from keeping her connection with the affectionate psycho a secret from her employers.

It was also three months of caring after the childishly-innocent Dolls. They were almost like sheep, the way they wandered wherever they were led. It made her extra concerned for their safety, having been one of them herself, once. She wondered if there had ever been something bad happen to her while she was in such a state of ultimate naivety and trust. Just the thought made her afraid to know the answer. She quickly decided she would be better off not knowing, and tried to never think of it again. Ultimately, she failed. Alpha dragged what was bothering her out of her after a week of dwelling on it, however, and he vehemently declared that nothing had happened, and that he wouldn't have let anything happen to her. Having someone with intimate knowledge of her time as a Doll deny it gave her peace, at least. Even if she didn't trust Alpha's stability, she did trust the fact that he had never lied to her before, and she didn't believe he would start now.

Three months of trying to grasp the politics of the Dollhouse, as well as how it related to the other Dollhouses around the world. The LA Dollhouse seemed to be like a lone ship in the ocean, but surrounded by jutting rocks, around which enemies lay in wait to raid them the moment they dropped their guard. It made her tense. Her stress was really not going to go down any time soon. The thought made her feel exhausted. She had started sleeping during her lunch breaks the past couple of weeks, the stress was getting to her so much. Whenever she got really stressed, she tended to sleep about twenty percent more. It was her avoidance mechanism, rather than dealing with her stressor head-on.

It didn't help that, on top of that, for the past month, she had been avoiding Topher, her closest friend at the Dollhouse.

About a month prior, Topher and Adelle had gone to the Washington, DC Dollhouse to retrieve Echo, and apparently he had met "the girl of his dreams", who had then gone totally berserk on him. He couldn't shut his goddamn mouth about her, and after about a week of listening to him rant on and on about her non-stop, (he barely even paused long enough to _breathe_, for goodness' sake), she had finally snapped at him that as long as he was talking about his little schoolgirl crush, he could damn well not talk to her.

Needless to say, Topher hadn't taken it well. They hadn't spoken in almost a month. She had moved her radio from her desk top to being shoved in the back of one of its drawers. She hated seeing it every day and being reminded of the two months she'd actually had a friend that wasn't a mass-murdering obsessive schizophrenic psychopath.

(Try saying _that_ five times fast.)

In the past month, Ainsley had been hanging around Paul Ballard more and more. She wasn't the only one surprised to find that they got along surprisingly well. The serious man had a dry sense of humor that she enjoyed trying to draw out. And naturally, since she had begun hanging around Ballard more, she inevitably began speaking more to Echo, as well. She was amused at the fact that the Active had managed to hide her unnaturally-enhanced intelligence from the other handlers and workers at the Dollhouse for as long as she had, what with the telltale knowing gleam Ainsley had noted in her eyes as she studied the people around her. She spoke loftily, like an innocent, unconcerned Doll, but with the knowledge of her composite event, Ainsley knew the signs to look for to see that the young woman was more than what she tried to appear to be.

It was because she spent nearly every day in conversation with these two people that she became sharply aware of their sudden absence.

When Ballard and Echo disappeared, at first she thought that they had just been sent out on an encounter before she had come in for work for the day. When a week passed by and she still hadn't seen hide nor hair of either person, along with not hearing even a whisper of what they might be doing that was keeping them away for so long, she grew uneasy and approached Adelle with her concerns.

"It's none of your concern, my dear," Adelle said, looking through a stack of paperwork on her desk rather than looking Ainsley in the eye. It was always a sign that she was hiding something from her. She'd learned early on that Adelle thought of her almost as a daughter, being one of her greatest 'success stories', and didn't like lying to her, despite how easily she did it to most everyone else. "They're on an extended encounter right now, top priority, so they won't be back for quite some time."

Ainsley didn't like the sound of that. Something was up, and she wanted to know what, damn it.

Unfortunately, when asking other staff members-as subtly as possible, of course; Adelle had ears everywhere in the Dollhouse, and she doubted she'd take kindly to Ainsley's continued snooping-turned out to be a bust, she realized there was only one other person she could turn to for answers, and that person just so happened to be all but living at her house currently.

Alpha.

* * *

Ainsley's homicidal friend sat across the coffee table from her, his legs crossed and a steaming cup of tea in one hand, the matching saucer in the other with two biscuits on it. He regarded her from over his teacup with a look of curious contemplation.

"Now, why ever would you want to know a thing like that, my dear?" he asked of the question she'd just asked him, that question being: What the _hell _is going on with Echo right now? It didn't escape her notice that the blond tactfully evaded answering her question in any way that might indicate he knew the answer.

Which, when it came to Alpha, of course meant that he did, in fact, know the answer.

Alpha dunked a biscuit in his tea before taking a bite. He was dressed to the nines today in a well-pressed suit and paisley tie, courtesy of one of his more 'posh' personalities.

Ainsley made a face. She didn't know how he could drink tea. Compared to coffee, it was just so...weak. So..._bland._

"Stop trying to throw me off with your tepid leaf-water." Ainsley frowned. "You're giving me non-answers. That means you have the real answers. Tell me." She had to consciously keep the whine out of her voice. She felt like a little kid trying to get her parents to buy her junk food at the grocery store. She needed to _know, _though. It was just one of the many factors contributing to her stress, and if she didn't get some relief from it soon, she was going to have a goddamn meltdown, she could tell.

For some reason, she didn't think Alpha would be the most stable supporter to help her through it, if she did.

Alpha snorted at her derisive comment about his tea, purposely giving it a loud slurp and grinning impishly at the face she made in response.

"But Heaven," he purred with a wicked gleam in his eye, "what's in it for _me?"_

Ainsley grimaced. Of course it would come down to that. Nothing was ever simple with Alpha, after all. How could it be, when he was so many (mostly unsavory) people crammed into one? They were packed so tight they didn't even have the luxury of elbow room in that brain of his.

"Uh...my undying love and gratitude?" she joked, hoping he would be feeling generous that making him laugh would be enough.

Alpha gave a bark of laughter, but shook his head.

"Nice try, my dear. You'll have to try a little harder than that, though."

The predatory gleam was back in his eyes, and it was enough to make her uncomfortable. She clenched her hands into loose fists to keep from fidgeting in her nervousness. She saw his gaze flick down to her hands and knew that he'd made the assessment of her nerves anyway. She never could fool him, even on the rare occasions she managed to fool herself.

Ainsley chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment before deciding on her pitch.

"Well, seeing as you don't seem to need me to get insider info at the Dollhouse," she said dryly-she didn't even want to know how he always knew what was going on in the tangled web of all their internal affairs, "I can just make your life a little easier." She took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose, not believing she was about to offer what she was. She could feel a migraine coming on already from how much of an annoyance this was going to be for her. "I promise not to try and kick you out of the bed when you inevitably crawl in with me. Deal?"

Alpha grinned wickedly.

"You, my dear, have yourself a deal."

_Ugh. Shoot me now._

"So? Spill," she said, ignoring the sinking feeling that she'd sold her soul to the devil. It was a bit melodramatic of her, she knew, seeing as the psycho ended up cuddled up next to her every night he was there anyways no matter how hard she tried to kick him out of the bed and make him sleep in the guest bedroom, but it made her feel better that she didn't just give in to his antics. Alas, apparently those days were over now. Sigh.

Alpha placed his teacup and saucer neatly on the table before leaning back into the armchair that he'd claimed as his own. (The comfiest one, of course. Bastard.) He steepled his fingers under his chin like an old-fashioned villain and gave her a wicked grin.

"I won't go too into detail, seeing as this is obviously something your dear Addie is wanting to keep you in the dark about, but there are...several people gunning for the LA Dollhouse right now, as you probably know."

She nodded. She knew that much, at least.

"And along with the known players, there's also a wildcard that could be the deciding factor for who wins the war in the end."

She nodded again.

"Echo," she said. There was no question that was who he was talking about. He wouldn't have been obsessed with the young woman unless she was truly something special, after all.

Alpha gave a contented sigh at the sound of her name. He looked like the cat that ate the canary, if she had to put his expression into words.

"Ahh, yes. Echo," he said. "The reason she's been sent away is to refine her...special skill set."

Ainsley raised an eyebrow. "So you've been stalking her again."

Alpha rolled his eyes.

"Please, it's not like I've killed anyone doing it...yet," he said, then mumbled as an afterthought, "...this time."

Ainsley shook her head.

"Never mind," she said, standing up from the loveseat and stretching her arms over her head. "I don't want to know the specifics. You've given me enough." Hopefully if he didn't tell her the whole story, she could still back out of her promise...

"Fine by me," Alpha said, inspecting his nails. "Don't forget what you promised tonight."

Ainsley grimaced, not deeming to respond as she left the living room with the thought of grabbing a snack in mind. She could use some chocolate to lift her spirits right about now.

_Bastard._


End file.
